A year on, volunteer tradies travel to Lismore to restore essential plumbing and bathrooms for homes of flood survivors

• One year on from record flooding events many residents are still unable to fully move back into their homes due to lack of essential plumbing, including running water.
• Resilient Lismore is partnering with the Reece Foundation to bring volunteer tradies to the community to restore essential plumbing in the homes of some of the most vulnerable members of the community.
• The project is part of a broader Resilient Lismore initiative, Two Rooms & a Bathroom, which leverages donations and works with volunteer to rebuild homes of flood-affected residents.

Community recovery organisation Resilient Lismore, with the help of volunteers and supporters, has led the charge to get flood affected residents back into their homes.

A year on from the flooding events that decimated the community, many residents are still displaced and either living in temporary accommodation or in homes without access to basic plumbing, like clean running water, showers, or toilets.

Elly Bird, Resilient Lismore Executive Director said: “If it wasn’t for the willingness of volunteers and charitable partners, we wouldn’t have made a dent in getting these people back into their homes, but more needs to be done to support our community.

“With a shortage of financial support, skilled tradespeople and materials, many households have faced huge barriers to restoring healthy and habitable homes. Our volunteers have already started installing walls for people living in shells of homes – part of the successful and ongoing ‘Two Rooms Project’.”

Resilient Lismore has deployed more than 13,800 volunteers to more than 3,600 community rebuild jobs and has delivered ‘Two Rooms’ to 72 homes so far. Thousands of homes are still so significantly water-damaged that they should not be lived in. However, many people have little choice but to remain in these homes despite the removal of walls, bathrooms, and kitchens for safety reasons.

“Through our community outreach work, we heard that a lot of people were living without things like toilets, running water and showers – so with the support of the Reece Foundation, we have rebranded the project to ‘Two Rooms & a Bathroom’,” Bird said.

Resilient Lismore and the Reece Foundation have a shared objective to provide access to essential plumbing for those who are displaced or vulnerable, to ensure they can live in their homes safely and with dignity.

Together, Resilient Lismore and Reece Foundation have co-designed the project to ensure they can deliver the restoration of essential plumbing services for 37 households and small businesses across the Northern Rivers. On the eve of the one-year anniversary, a group of 11 volunteer tradies from across Australia travelled to Lismore to restore kitchens, bathrooms and laundries for the most vulnerable members of the community and will be working there over the next three weeks. Additionally, Reece has donated all the plumbing products so the restoration work will be completed at no cost to residents.

Volunteer plumber Carl Bushby was among the group of tradies who came to Lismore in November to scope the essential plumbing works required and decided to return to help finish the restoration work over the next couple of weeks.

He said, “Stepping away from the day-to-day of my business and coming back to finish what we started in Lismore was a no-brainer for me. This group of people is incredible. They’ve welcomed us back with open arms – it’s been an honour to get on the tools to ensure they can feel safe, secure and warm in their homes again.”

Cr Bird concluded, “While more still needs to be done for this community, this locally led project is a significant moment in our community recovery journey.”

Resilient Lismore has prioritised people who cannot afford to do this work themselves, however Resilient Lismore and the Reece Foundation will continue to work together to identify further support for community members who still need access to essential plumbing. If Australians want to support the ongoing Two Rooms & a Bathroom project, they can:

• Make a tax deductible donation at www.floodhelpnr.com.au
• Tradies can register their interest to volunteer on https://www.reecefoundation.charity/get-involved/volunteer
• Anyone can buy Reece Foundation merchandise at reecefoundation.charity – all profits from sales will support future project works.